New Book - they Once Were Shipbuilders. I

SS Sirius was the Leith Built Ship that crossed the mighty Atlantic being the very first such vessel to cross under steam power alone.

Many more Leith "Firsts" can be found in the new book on an almost forgotten maritime past.

Leith-Built Ships Vol. I 

They Once Were Shipbuilders

Make it a xmas gift but dont just take my word for it, have a look at some of the first reviews as shown below.

https://julianstockwin.com/2019/12/11/yuletide-selection-ii/

https://www.thenational.scot/news/18098553.leith-built-history-rival-ships-clyde/

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usreviews/books/whittlesleithbuilt.html

https://glostransporthistory.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/book-review-they-once-were-shipbuilders-by-r-o-neish/

Available from most good book stores or direct from the publishers.

http://www.whittlespublishing.com/They_Once_Were_Shipbuilders

The book is also available on Amazon and can be delivered anywhere around the world.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/They-Once-Were-Shipbuilders-Leith-Built/dp/1849954437/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Once+Were+Shipbuilders&qid=1576318172&sr=8-1

SCOT II restoration Project - Now a registered Charity

Scot II restoration revived

Launch of the SCOT II March 1931
Photo from "The Loftsman" Collection

Happy to be able to tell the world that the project to renovate the oldest “Ice Breaking” Tug left in the British Isles is now to be revived after a couple of years of the usual challenges she is now an official registered charity.

She will be restored to Lloyds Class 100A1 Sea going ready again.

The ship built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd and launched in 1931 is also on the Historical British Ships register as an important vessel in the long list of ships built in Britain.

The main difference this time is the College that we hope will be involved to help restore her is now going to be Inverness College, which is closer to where the old ship is presently berthed just now.

Now that she is to be owned by a registered charity the hard work to raise funds and to restore her to her old sea going condition can begin again in earnest with a good chance that once again we will see this famous old ship back on her usual stretch of water travelling through the Caledonian Canal and into Loch Ness in Scotland once more.

The trust is now officially 'The Scot ll & Historic Vessels Renovation & Preservation Society SCIO ' Our charity number is SC045270 ! Our SCIO's Known name is 'The Scot ll Society.' The registration date is 04 / 12 / 2014.

Appeals for funds and help will now begin and if anyone out there feels that they can contribute any small way then don’t hesitate to contact, no amount of help or funds is too small or large.

The Blog will feature regular updates on progress and it is hoped that once things get into full swing we can follow the progress of her restoration here on the Leith Built Ships Blog.

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH

The sum of the parts makes for a pretty impressive weapons platform built around the British Isles in the few remaining shipyards and put together in Fife, Scotland

Lets forget about the politics and the build problems encountered while building the Royal Navy's largest ever ship, to hell with the cost of the vessel as well, as the cost would only have been wasted by the useless politicians on something else anyway, at least this project kept alive some skills and shipbuilding know how in a country that used to build ships.
So the day has finally arrived when the  new Aircraft Carrier is named, not launched mind you as she will have a what they call now "A Float Off" as she was assembled in dry dock.
It is a strange feeling for shipbuilders at the launch or in this case naming ceremony as they can already see there jobs on the line, the harder the Shipwrights, Platers and Welders work then the faster they face un-employment, just all part of the job of a shipbuilder.
Despite all the politics involved in this particular build it is still a great occasion when you see a ship completed although this one will still have 3 or 4 years outfitting work ahead of her before she is ready to accept aircraft (if they ever complete the aircraft due to fly from her)
This is also a time for the politicians and there assembled flunky's and upper management of the concerned shipyards to do a lot of back slapping and hand wringing again having had little to do with the building of a ship, politics and shipbuilding you just cant separate.
Its the guys who built and assembled this mighty ship who deserve the pat on the back, and yes there were many problems during her construction and some which I am very qualified to speak on as I was involved for a couple of years in her construction, You see I am a shipbuilder, so it would be hoped that they now have the experience behind them and the second carrier will be assembled much better and will in fact prove to be the better built of the two aircraft carriers, strange then that there is still talk of this better second one being mothballed or even sold off at a cut down price........see politics and shipbuilding they go hand and hand.
For a lot more on this story of the naming of the ship at the Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland (Note - It is not a shipyard) see the story in the Scotsman newspaper.

I could not direct you to the BBC and there stories on the ship as they still don't seem to know the difference between a Ship and a Boat.(perhaps a sign of the times)
The ignorance today in the U.K. about shipbuilding or should I say about the lack of shipbuilding knowledge is a bit scary for an Island Nation but again that's politics and this blog is about Shipbuilding.